Malaysia’s Roti Canai Ranked No.2 on ‘100 Best Rated Street Foods in the World’

According to their website, TasteAtlas is a Bulgarian-based interactive ‘world atlas of traditional dishes, local ingredients, and authentic restaurants’.

We’re happy to report that our very own Roti canai ranked no.2 overall on the list, just behind China’s guotie, or dumplings while Japan’s Kaarage, which typically refers to its deep-fried chicken lightly coated in arrowroot starch was placed at no.3.

The list was first published with Roti canai ranked at no.1 but it has since been updated:

As the website mentioned, ‘Roti canai is a traditional Malaysian pan-fried flatbread made with flour, water, eggs, and fat. The dough for roti canai is repeatedly folded, so the final product has a layered texture, a soft interior, and a crispy outer layer. The most common fat used in roti canai is ghee, the traditional Indian clarified butter.’

The website further explained the history behind Roti canai, stating that it was believed to have been brought into the Malaysia by Indian laborers when they moved into the country, bringing the recipe and tradition with them.

Through the years, it has become our country’s unofficial national bread and roti canai is usually served plain, accompanied by curry and best eaten piping hot. Of course, at mamak outlets, there are hybrid versions that include other ingredients such as ‘roti bawang’ with chopped onions, ‘roti susu’ with condensed milk, and even the self-explanatory ‘roti durian’ for those with a more adventurous palate.

Among the outlets recommended on the website were Valentine Roti in KL, I.V. Restaurant in Klang, and Roti Canai TokBak in Johor Bahru.

We personally think more of our street food should be featured on this list but we’ll be content with this for now. We should note that while there were snacks from Thailand and Indonesia on this list, there was nothing from our neighbours down south *oops*.